Arsenal fans fume over major decision vs Tottenham

Holly Clancy,

Supporters of Arsenal have taken to social media in their droves during the first-half of their North London derby clash with Tottenham this afternoon, after a controversial offside call saw the Gunners denied a clear-cut goalscoring opportunity.

Matchup

The Gunners travelled to Wembley today on the back of a morale-boosting 5-1 victory over Everton last weekend, with January signings Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang both impressing in their first starts for the club.

Tottenham, meanwhile, dispatched of Newport County by 2 goals to nil in the FA Cup 4th round during the week, with their last Premier League outing having seen Mauricio Pochettino’s men twice fight back from behind to secure a remarkable point at Anfield versus Liverpool.

Team news

The starting XIs of both sides were announced an hour prior to kick-off, with Spurs’ January signing Lucas Moura having to make do with a place on the bench for the hosts:

Arsenal, meanwhile, were forced into a late reshuffle, following news that Aaron Ramsey was set to miss out this afternoon through injury:

As a result, Mohamed Elneny and Jack Wilshere both came into the Gunners’ midfield, with Arsene Wenger clearly of the opinion that the battle for supremacy in the middle of the park would prove crucial this afternoon:

First-half

The early goings of today’s crunch derby saw Tottenham control the majority of the possession, with Arsenal looking dangerous on the break on a couple of occasions.

Chances of note were few and far between over the opening half-hour, aside from a Harry Kane header nodded disappointingly over the bar by the Englishman.

However, there was a major question of what could have been for Arsenal with just 11 minutes on the clock, as Jack Wilshere’s gorgeous slide-rule pass sent Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang clean through on the home side’s goal.

The Gabonese hitman looked to have timed his run perfectly, only for the linesman to raise his flag for offside.

Immediate replays showcased the fact that Aubameyang was in fact onside, though, with Jan Vertonghen having been stood ever so slightly behind the rest of Tottenham’s defensive line.

Reaction

Arsenal’s fans quickly took to Twitter to make their frustration at the decision known, with some of the best roundup below:

Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the main difference between Wenger & Mourinho

Alexis Sanchez details why he left Arsenal for Man United

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